Fitting In is a coming of age story like you have never seen before, which is why it is not afraid of delving into the gravity and vulnerability of teenage girlhood, making sure not to skip over true feelings.
For 16-year-old Lindy (Maddie Ziegler) who suddenly finds out that she has MRKH syndrome, a reproductive condition, this throws all her plans to start having sex and assumptions about womanhood and sexuality completely off track. It even causes her to rethink the relationship with her mother. Herself too.
Ziegler really shines in the main part as she accurately depicts both the highest highs and lowest lows Lindy undergoes. While Fitting In can become quite graphic at times, still all this happens in sensitivity for anyone who might have experienced such a reproductive situation or similar ones.
If you’ve been there before some conversations and visuals are very triggering. This adolescence is different from one we all had but it touches on sexual issues and gender as well so I guess everyone can relate to it. Besides, dating mayhem and dumb teenage choices also constitute part of it; another thing that everybody has in common in life.
Through these other aspects of being an adolescent Fitting In becomes less lonely than what one may gather from its synopsis alone. There’s definitely something for everyone on this heartwarming yet traumatic journey.
Though most of the movie makes sense and progresses nicely at a reasonable pace, parts involving the ending feel as though they come out of nowhere entirely. One choice in particular mentioned above doesn’t seem like it would come from Lindy right?
This seems odd considering everything else about her throughout the entire one hour forty-five minute film. But probably put herself up as somebody else which I guess was what it was trying to say however I don’t know why it left me unsettled. On the flip side, such sudden change in attitude by her is very encouraging especially for teenage viewers.
Another problem with the film is that it’s hard to accept Emily Hampshire as a mother of a sixteen year old. No offense to her performance which was excellent, and especially her chemistry with Maddie Ziegler, but just how she looked. She appears too young to have a child that age that I had difficulty overlooking at first.
Fitting In is a beautiful yet traumatic coming of age story. While it can be triggering for some people, especially those who have experienced reproduction issues. This is a very well-done narrative worth the ride on an emotional roller-coaster.
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